Plough Sunday

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he has made an assessment of the popularity of Plough Sunday celebrations; and if she will make a statement.

Tony Baldry: Plough Sunday is not officially part of the Church of England Liturgical Calendar but in many rural communities it is a significant local event. Its popularity has been growing over the last decade as churches assist in making links between food producers and consumers and reach out to the farming community.
	Plough services are increasingly part of church life in cities, particularly in cathedrals, where large scale plough services take place and attract many hundreds of people from a wide background, often to raise money for Farming Help Charities. Plough services are also used to encourage rural church congregations and communities to think about food issues and to provide opportunities training for rural clergy.
	Plough Sunday, marked on the First Sunday of Epiphany, was traditionally the start of the new farming year. Before the first working day after the 12 days of Christmas the plough, horses and seeds would be blessed and prayers offered for successful cultivation.

Children: Day Care

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent steps he has taken to ensure that childcare is accessible.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has extended free early education—all three and four-year-olds are now entitled to 15 hours a week. From September 2013, 20% of two-year-olds will also be entitled to 15 hours a week of free early education, rising to 40% in September 2014.
	The Prime Minister announced a commission on child care on 19 June. The commission is looking at how to reduce the costs of child care for working families and remove burdens on child care providers, without compromising the safety or quality of provision. A call for evidence ran from 19 July until 31 August this year, and drew on expert advice from those involved in child care and early education. International evidence on high-quality, affordable child care is also being considered.
	The commission will report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the autumn.

Children's Centres

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to his Department's report Child Poverty in the UK: report on the 2010 target, what steps has he taken to ensure that Sure Start centres do more research to reach parents who can most benefit from their services.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 29 October 2012
	The Government has set out clearly the core purpose of Sure Start children's centres, which is to improve outcomes for young children and their families, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged families, in order to reduce inequalities, so that children are equipped for life and ready for school.
	We do not prescribe how children's centres should achieve this purpose since that is for each children's centre to decide according to its local circumstances. However, we have collected examples of good practice in effective outreach and family support delivered from children's centres to help them to identify and engage with those families that need extra support and we are making sure that children's centres have access to that information.

Health Education: Sex

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on teaching children about pornography as part of sex education.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government wants all young people to have high quality, age appropriate sex and relationships education.
	The current non-statutory programmes of study for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, which include sex and relationship education, can provide opportunities for schools to teach about pornography. We believe that teachers should be free to use their professional judgment to decide what to include in PSHE lessons, according to needs of their pupils.

Mathematics and Science: Education

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to promote the study of mathematics and science in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government is doing much to promote the study of science and mathematics in schools. These subjects are at the heart of its key reforms.
	A formal consultation on the new primary and secondary mathematics and science curriculum content will take place in early 2013. The Department is also currently consulting on a new suite of world class qualifications replacing GCSEs in core academic subjects, to be called English Baccalaureate Certificates (EBCs). The first teaching of EBCs in mathematics, science and English will be in 2015 with the first exams taken in 2017.
	Good teaching is vital to engaging more students in mathematics and science. The Department is attracting the best graduates into mathematics and science teaching through bursaries of up to £20,000.
	The Department has also teamed up with the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry to offer £20,000 scholarships to the most gifted aspiring physics and chemistry teachers. The Department is funding the network of science learning centres and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics to provide existing teachers with access to high quality professional development.
	The Department is continuing to fund programmes to support greater take up of GCSE triple science and further mathematics and physics A levels.
	The Department is also working with Cambridge university to develop an advanced curriculum to deepen young people's understanding of mathematical ideas and give them a greater mastery of the subject. The Department is also working with Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) to develop a mathematical and statistical problem solving advanced level curriculum that will be appealing and useful to students who would not normally continue to study mathematics post-16.
	New maths specialist Free Schools for talented 16 to 18-year-old mathematicians will increase the likelihood of students studying mathematics, engineering and science at university.

National Curriculum Tests

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average points score was of pupils taking (a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) science Key Stage 2 examinations in each lower layer super output area in the last year for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 1 November 2012
	A table showing total average point score of pupils within each super output area, has been placed in the House Libraries. Information on average point scores for individual subject breakdowns could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to include personal, social, health and economic education in the national curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government's intention is to slim down the statutory national curriculum. We have already ruled out making Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education as a whole a statutory subject within the national curriculum.

World War I: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken to increase awareness of the first world war in schools in advance of the 2014 centenary of the outbreak of that war.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government believes that it is important that pupils learn about the first world war. That is why, as part of our plans to mark the centenary, the Department for Education and the Department for Communities and Local Government are providing £5.3 million in funding to enable pupils and teachers from every state funded secondary school in England to participate in battlefield tours of the western front.

Credit: Interest Rates

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the pay day loan industry's code of practice;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of self-regulation in the payday loan industry.

Jo Swinson: Government are committed to ensuring that the payday lending industry can self-regulate effectively to drive out rogue traders. We also recognise that a voluntary approach can deliver real improvements in consumer protection more quickly than Government regulation.
	That is why we welcomed the strengthened Codes of Practice and new Customer Charter published in July 2012 by the four main payday lending trade associations. These codes were developed to respond to the Office of Fair Trading's findings in its High Cost Credit Review which said that more could be done to help ensure that the markets for high cost credit are seen as responsible industries which are able to address concerns without the need for additional regulation by Government.
	The codes are to be implemented by individual lenders by 26 November 2012, and we expect that these revised codes will deliver enhanced consumer protections as well as provide greater transparency about how these loans work. Citizens Advice and the four trade associations will be monitoring lenders' compliance.
	The trade associations will carry out a review of the effectiveness of the codes of practice in summer 2013. I look forward to considering the outcomes of that review.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many written parliamentary questions to his Department received a substantive answer (a) within five working days, (b) between six and 10 working days and (c) after more than 10 working days in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: Ministers and officials in the Department are committed to providing hon. Members with substantive answers to House of Commons ordinary written parliamentary questions (WPQs) within five working days.
	For the period 3 November 2011 to 2 November 2012 the figures for this Department were:
	
		
			  Number Percentage 
			 (a) within five working days 1,449 69 
			 (b) between six to 10 days 529 25 
			 (c) over10 days 107 5 
			 Total 2,085 — 
		
	
	Following restructuring within the Department's Parliamentary Relations team the internal parliamentary data source has been upgraded, allowing officials to check on progress of all active WPQs on a twice daily basis. Using this new device, the Department is aiming to improve its performance in answering WPQs on time during this and future sessions of Parliament.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Railways: Capital Allowances

John Leech: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether he has considered a review of the exclusion of the railway industry from the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the spending by the railway industry that would qualify for inclusion under the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme were it to be eligible for that scheme;
	(3)  for what reason the railway industry is excluded from the Enhanced Capital Allowances scheme.

David Gauke: The scope of the enhanced capital allowances (ECA) scheme for energy saving and environmentally beneficial technologies is kept under regular review. As with all tax policy, any announcements on changes to the ECA scheme are made as part of the annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances.
	HMRC does not have the information necessary to estimate the total expenditure incurred by the whole rail industry that would potentially qualify under the ECA scheme.
	Considerations taken into account in excluding railway assets from the ECA scheme were the nature of the scheme in relation to the railway industry, the industry's assets, and the other allowances available in respect of capital expenditure on those.

Universal Credit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers had enrolled on real time information for universal credit by 6 November 2012.

David Gauke: At 6 November 2012, around 6,000 PAYE schemes were submitting Real Time Information (RTI) covering around 2.1 million individual employment records.

Universal Credit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of (a) employers and (b) employees enrolled on real time information for universal credit in (i) April 2013, (ii) October 2013, (iii) January 2014, (iv) April 2014 and (v) January 2015.

David Gauke: There are approximately 39 million individuals with an active PAYE employment record, including 10 million receiving pension income, administered through 2.1 million PAYE schemes in the UK.
	Under Real Time Information (RTI) employers and pension providers will send HMRC PAYE information each time they pay their employees or pensioners. RTI for universal credit claimants will be used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to adjust their awards.
	Most employers, who are not participating in the 2012-13 RTI pilot, will join the RTI system in April 2013. And HMRC expect the vast majority of employers to be operating PAYE in real time by the end of October 2013.
	They estimate that up to 8,000 PAYE schemes will not start reporting PAYE in real time until April 2014. These schemes will mainly be Care and Support employers and employers who operate particular non-standard PAYE schemes.
	The DWP timetable for universal credit is for new claimants to be able to make claims for universal credit from October 2013.
	HMRC do not know how many of the 8,000 schemes that may not have joined RTI between October 2013 and April 2014 will have employees claiming universal credit but the number of individuals affected is expected to be very small.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many written parliamentary questions to his Department received a substantive answer (a) within five working days, (b) between six and 10 working days and (c) after more than 10 working days in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of written parliamentary questions to his Department received holding responses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State's answer to question 10 of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee's evidence session on 15 October 2012, if he will publish the evidence base used to judge that too little land has been brought forward for development in England.

Nicholas Boles: At the Select Committee, I stated that, in the past, too little land had been brought forward for development.
	As an illustration, a survey by the Planning Inspectorate under the last administration of 337 local planning authorities was only able to identify 81 local authorities as clearly having a five-year housing land supply (DCLG, “Five-year housing land supply coverage in England”, March 2010, p.5).

Planning Permission

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State's answer to question 112 of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee's evidence session on 15 October 2012, who has responsibility for use class orders within his Department.

Nicholas Boles: The consultation on "New opportunities for sustainable development and growth through the reuse of existing buildings" was published on 3 July 2012, and the general stance that my Department is taking on change of use was outlined in the answer of 17 July 2012, Official Report, column 648W.
	Since my appointment on 5 September, I have been the Minister with responsibility for planning, including reform of change of use and permitted development rights.
	I work closely with ministerial colleagues in the Department on related public policy issues; for example, the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis), has policy responsibility for community pubs.

Service Charges

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to requiring all property managers and block management agents to become members of a governing body.

Don Foster: A large number of property managers and managing agents in the residential leasehold sector already belong to bodies or associations offering voluntary regulation. These include bodies such as the Association of Residential Managing Agents, the Association of Retirement Housing Managers and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and ensure that their members have the right protections in place and operate to certain standards. They also have redress systems if something goes wrong.
	In view of this, the moves towards stronger self-regulation by some leading trade associations in the field, and the need for these managers to comply with two Codes of Management Practice approved by the Secretary of State, the Government does not believe that the time is right for government imposed regulation of the sector which would run the risk of increasing burdens and costs.

Service Charges

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the ease with which owners and lessees are able to set up Right to Manage companies.

Don Foster: No recent assessment has been made about the operation of the right to manage legislation, and there are no current plans to do so, although the Government welcome suggestions on improvements to residential leasehold, including the right to manage.

Driving: Eyesight

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure compliance with EC directives (i) 2009/113/EC and (ii) 2006/126/EC concerning driver eyesight.

Stephen Hammond: The driver eyesight standards contained in the European Commission directives need to be in place by 19 January 2013. The domestic legislative changes are expected to be introduced early in 2013. Administrative procedures are already in place to ensure that all driver licence applicants meet the minimum eyesight standards required by the directive.

Helicopters: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had on safety standards in the helicopter fleet servicing the UK offshore oil and gas sector with the (a) Civil Aviation Authority and (b) European Aviation Safety Agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the Air Accident Investigation Branch's initial findings from the investigation into the causes of the emergency ditching of a Super Puma EC225 in the North Sea on 22 October 2012; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent discussion on safety standards in the helicopter fleet servicing the UK offshore oil and gas sector he has had with representatives from (a) the Civil Aviation Authority, (b) the European Aviation Safety Agency, (c) trade unions and (d) offshore oil and gas companies; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has overall responsibility for assuring the continuing airworthiness of these helicopters. EASA issued an emergency airworthiness directive on 25 October following the ditching of a Super Puma EC225 in the North Sea on 22 October. As a precautionary measure, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued an operational directive on 25 October to prevent helicopters covered by the EASA directive from operating commercial flights over areas of open sea until further notice. The CAA is liaising closely with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) over its ongoing investigation and has had several recent meetings with the AAIB, EASA and other interested parties.

Transport: Exhaust Emissions

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what analysis his Department has conducted (a) independently and (b) in conjunction with other Government departments of the cost of inclusion of aviation and shipping emissions in carbon budgets.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport has been working closely with, and will continue to work closely with, the Department of Energy and Climate Change and other Whitehall Departments to analyse the difference in the costs between inclusion and exclusion of international aviation and shipping emissions in the UK's 2050 carbon target and carbon budgets. The Government will consider this, and other relevant factors, carefully in advance of making a decision on this matter later this year.
	New analysis published by the Committee on Climate Change in April 2012 estimated the overall costs of meeting the UK's 2050 carbon target (including international aviation and shipping emissions) to be towards the low end of their previous estimate of 1% to 2% of GDP in 2050. Preliminary internal cross-Departmental analysis estimated that the resource costs in 2050 of meeting a 2050 target that included emissions from international aviation and shipping would be around 0.1-0.4 percentage points of GDP higher than the cost of meeting a 2050 target that excluded those emissions.

Doctors: Working Hours

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effects of the European working time directive on the (a) well-being of NHS patients and (b) training of junior doctors.

Daniel Poulter: The care of patients in the modern health service is by multidisciplinary clinical teams with strong innovative, senior clinical leadership. Good teams are the safest way to care for patients; ensuring that care is continuous cannot be the responsibility of just one member of the team.
	It is the responsibility of individual national health service trusts to assess the effects the directive is having on patients and staff in their trust. However, the Government recognises the difficulties caused by the working time directive. The review by Sir John Temple reported on the directive's impact on doctors' training.
	In response to this review and the Collins' report ‘Foundation for Excellence’, Medical Education England are implementing a programme—Better Training, Better Care—to improve the quality of training and improved patient outcomes, safety and experience.
	Sir John Temple also reported that the requirements of the junior doctors' contract and the directive differ and that this reduces flexibility. As a result the NHS Employers organisation was commissioned to make recommendations for reappraising the contract. The report's recommendations are being considering carefully.

Eyesight: Testing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the importance of regular eye tests.

Daniel Poulter: The Government recognises that regular sight tests are an important measure in preventing avoidable sight loss.
	Free national health services sight tests are available to many people, including children, people aged 60 and over, people on benefits and those people at particular risk of developing eye disease. The uptake of NHS sight tests is increasing. In 2011-12, there were 12.3 million NHS sight tests, an increase of 367,000 (3.1%) compared with the previous year.
	Information about the extensive arrangements for providing help with NHS optical services and other health costs is published in leaflet HC11 “Are you entitled to help with health costs?”.
	The Department has worked, and continues to work with NHS Choices on the development of articles and videos to raise the profile of visual health and promote the importance of regular sight tests.
	Local health commissioners can also promote eye health, if they consider that to be needed locally.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many written parliamentary questions to her Department received a substantive answer (a) within five working days, (b) between six and 10 working days and (c) after more than 10 working days in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of written parliamentary questions to her Department received holding responses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Michael Penning: For the period 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012, the Northern Ireland Office received 280 ordinary written parliamentary questions. All of these were answered substantively. The timeframe for responses was as follows:
	(a) 264
	(b) 14
	(c) 2
	For the same period, my Department answered 103 named day parliamentary questions, of which 6 (6%) received a holding reply.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  how many written parliamentary questions to his Department received a substantive answer (a) within five working days, (b) between six and 10 working days and (c) after more than 10 working days in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of written parliamentary questions to his Department received holding responses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Stephen Crabb: For the period 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012, the Wales Office received 344 ordinary written parliamentary questions. All of these were answered substantively, and are broken down as follows:
	(a): 322
	(b): 22
	(c): Nil.
	For the same period, my Department received and answered 47 named day parliamentary questions, of which two (4%) received a holding reply.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session are available on the Parliament website at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average jobseekers' allowance payment made to claimants was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on jobseeker's allowance by weekly average amount payable are available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how many written parliamentary questions to her Department received a substantive answer (a) within five working days, (b) between six and 10 working days and (c) after more than 10 working days in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of written parliamentary questions to her Department received holding responses in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Alan Duncan: In the 12 month period ending 2 November 2012, DFID received 957 ordinary written questions, of which 909 (95%) were answered within five sitting days. The remaining 48 questions were answered within 10 sitting days.
	In the 12 month period ending 2 November 2012, DFID received 273 Named Day, of which 248 (91%) were answered by the named day.
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Arts

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans her Department has to support the arts and the creative industries in areas outside London.

Edward Vaizey: Government funding for the arts is distributed through Arts Council England (ACE), the development agency for the arts in England. After extensive consultation, ACE has determined a 10 year strategy—Achieving Great Art for Everyone— setting out how it intends to support the arts, including how this will be achieved outside London. As just one example, ACE is investing £37 million in the Creative People and Places programme which focuses on parts of the country where people's involvement in the arts is significantly below the national average.
	Government support for the creative industries is primarily channelled through the Creative Industries Council which was established as a joint forum between the creative industries and Government to address areas where there are barriers facing the sector. Jointly chaired by the Secretaries of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Nicola Mendelsohn, Chair of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, the Council focuses on finding practical solutions to issues across the sector including access to finance, skills and growth across the UK’s creative industries. In the English regions Creative England was established in October 2011 with the core purpose of supporting the sustainable growth of independent creative businesses in every part of England outside London.
	In addition, in Budget 2012, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the introduction of three new tax reliefs for high end TV, video games and animation, building on the success of the film tax relief.

Arts: English Baccalaureate

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the mechanism by which creative subjects will be assessed within the English Baccalaureate.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Women and Equalities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), has had no discussions with the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), on the mechanism by which creative subjects will be assessed within the English Baccalaureate. However, our two Departments work closely together on cultural education policy. As you are aware, the subjects we have chosen for the proposed new English Baccalaureate certificates on which the Department is currently consulting, are the core academic subjects: English, mathematics, the sciences, history, geography and languages. We intend to replace the current GCSEs with these new qualifications. Other subjects—such as creative subjects—will remain valuable and pupils will continue to study them alongside that academic core as part of a broad curriculum.

Broadband Delivery UK

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 170W, on Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), what the highest and lowest pro rata salaries paid to consultants working for BDUK have been.

Edward Vaizey: This information is not held in the manner requested. The only information held by Broadband Delivery UK relates to the rates paid to the consultants' employers (in the case of consultancies) or to agencies (in the case of interims), the average daily rate for which, is £834. External advisers are employed on a range of terms, including full or part-time employment over a variable number of days per year.

Health Lottery

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of the health lottery on the national lottery.

Edward Vaizey: The Government has been monitoring the impact of the health lottery on the national lottery and considering the effect this sort of scheme has, and may have, on returns for the existing national lottery good causes. We will publish the findings once we have concluded our initial assessment.

Ofcom

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Ofcom's accountability to Parliament.

Edward Vaizey: The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is required under the Office of Communications Act 2002, to submit to the Secretary of State, an annual report and accounts that have been approved by the National Audit Office. These are subsequently laid before Parliament and may be scrutinised by the Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee. The chair of Ofcom was last called to appear before the Select Committee in May 2011. While no recent assessment has been undertaken of the adequacy of these arrangements, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), is satisfied that this statutory accountability is appropriate.

Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many written parliamentary questions to her Department received a substantive answer (a) within five working days, (b) between six and 10 working days and (c) after more than 10 working days in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Hugh Robertson: The Department aims to give all House of Commons ordinary written PQs a substantive reply within five working days, all House of Lords ordinary written PQs a substantive reply within 10 working days, and all named day PQs a substantive reply on the specific named day. The following tables provide the Department's performance to these targets during 30 September 2011 to 30 September 2012.
	
		
			 House of Commons 
			  Ordinary written PQs Named day PQs 
			 Answered within 5 working days 710 — 
			 Between 6 and 10 working days 115 — 
			 Over 10 working days 161 — 
			    
			 Answered by specified named day — 529 
			 Up to 5 working days late — 46 
			 Over 5 working days late — 13 
		
	
	
		
			 House of Lords 
			  Ordinary written PQs 
			 Answered within 10 working days 123 
			 Over 10 working days 22 
		
	
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for how many and what proportion of days, on average, staff of his Department at each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: During September 2012, a technical error was identified in the Ministry of Justice sick absence report. As a result, the quarterly sick absence data from June 2011 onwards is being reworked. The data is currently being finalised and validated.
	I expect the revised data to be available by 23 November 2012. I shall then write to the hon. Member with the information and place a copy of the letter in the House of Commons Library.

Victim Support Schemes

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the financial and emotional support available to victims of crime; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Government is committed to providing the best possible support for victims of crime both to overcome the consequences of crime and to participate fully in the criminal justice process.
	Compensation is available to victims of violent crime through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. This is a demand-led scheme which costs the Government over £200 million each year. A revised scheme is currently being considered by Parliament.
	The voluntary sector plays a key role in the provision of emotional support for victims and witnesses of crime. Annual funding by central Government to the voluntary sector for victims’ services currently stands at around £66 million. Victim Support has been awarded core funding of around £38 million a year since 2007-08. Funding is also distributed to support a range of specialist services including rape support centres, services for adult victims of human trafficking and homicide support.
	On 2 July the Government announced in its response to the consultation ‘Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses’ that it would move to a model of national and local commissioning with police and crime commissioners (PCCs) responsible for commissioning the bulk of victims' services in their local area.

Young Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people have (a) entered the youth justice system, (b) left custody and (c) been resettled following a custodial sentence in the last year.

Jeremy Wright: The number of young people (aged 10 to 17) sentenced at court in 2011-12 was 59,335 (Criminal Justice Statistics):
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics
	In 201-11, 8,051 custodial episodes (this includes custodial remand and sentenced episodes) ended for young people aged 10 to 17. These are the latest figures available.
	The Youth Justice Board (YJB) counts the number of individual custodial episodes and not the number of individual young people leaving custody. An episode refers to a period a young person has spent in custody and it is possible that one young person can start more than one custodial episode at different points of each year for different offences or for a change in the legal basis for detention, such as remand to sentence.
	All young people leaving custody should receive resettlement support from youth offending teams (YOTs) according to their individual resettlement needs.
	These data are from the YJB's secure accommodation clearing house system (SACHS) database and refer to secure training centres (STCs), secure children's homes (SCHs), and under-18 young offender institutions (YOIs).
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.

Youth Offending Teams

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent posts there were in each youth offending team in (a) May 2010, (b) May 2011 and (c) the latest date for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: Figures on the number of people recorded as working for Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) in some capacity are collected centrally for the month of June each year. The table shows the breakdown by staff type and YOT as at 30 June 2010. These figures include part-time workers, sessional staff, trainees, and volunteers. Measures of full-time equivalent staff are not collected centrally. Total YOT workforce figures for 30 June 2011 will be available in the 2011-12 Youth Justice Statistics which will be published on 31 January 2013.
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/youth-justice/statistics
	Figures are taken from YOT data submitted to the Youth Justice Board's (YJB) Youth Justice Management Information System (YJMIS) as at 30 June for the relevant year.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.
	
		
			 Staff type by Youth Offending Team as at 30 June 2010 
			  Full time workers Part time workers Sessional staff Trainees Volunteers 
			 Barking and Dagenham 41 1 8 1 14 
			 Barnet 26 4 0 0 20 
			 Barnsley 47 12 18 1 19 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 22 11 5 0 32 
			 Bedfordshire 57 7 29 2 19 
			 Bexley 17 9 0 0 26 
			 Birmingham 231 53 72 0 195 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 29 6 8 0 10 
			 Blackpool 33 3 12 0 41 
			 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 47 8 0 0 93 
			 Bolton 35 6 0 0 0 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 23 9 12 0 16 
		
	
	
		
			 Bracknell Forest 12 4 3 0 27 
			 Bradford 64 13 0 0 103 
			 Brent 44 4 21 1 43 
			 Bridgend 29 2 11 0 16 
			 Brighton and Hove 23 16 4 0 30 
			 Bristol 74 23 30 0 63 
			 Bromley 32 5 12 1 33 
			 Buckinghamshire 35 13 11 0 15 
			 Bury 32 9 11 0 35 
			 Calderdale 43 12 13 0 60 
			 Cambridgeshire 43 13 23 0 36 
			 Camden 49 3 0 2 43 
			 Cardiff 57 13 8 0 0 
			 Carmarthenshire 19 18 0 0 62 
			 Ceredigion 17 8 7 0 8 
			 Cheshire 66 23 0 1 61 
			 Conwy and Denbighshire 38 0 5 0 13 
			 Cornwall 37 7 21 0 73 
			 Coventry 70 16 22 1 54 
			 Croydon 61 14 38 0 47 
			 Cumbria 57 21 6 4 71 
			 Darlington 29 8 1 0 26 
			 Derby 40 11 16 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 74 24 31 1 125 
			 Devon 58 36 3 0 109 
			 Doncaster 66 9 2 0 49 
			 Dorset 50 26 20 0 28 
			 Dudley 62 9 15 0 27 
			 Durham 119 29 0 0 58 
			 Ealing 39 4 7 0 19 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 32 6 13 2 20 
			 East Sussex 60 14 3 0 74 
			 Enfield 52 7 1 0 49 
			 Essex 110 34 1 0 82 
			 Flintshire 26 2 15 2 23 
			 Gateshead 64 14 2 0 26 
			 Gloucestershire 76 21 4 0 74 
			 Greenwich 28 13 0 0 0 
			 Gwynedd Mon 29 5 15 1 18 
			 Hackney 104 7 0 2 0 
			 Halton and Warrington 37 15 1 0 33 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 39 1 0 2 31 
			 Haringey 67 9 0 3 41 
			 Harrow 27 13 2 0 56 
			 Hartlepool 35 0 6 1 15 
			 Havering 22 10 6 0 21 
			 Hertfordshire 79 28 29 2 30 
			 Hillingdon 32 1 15 0 17 
			 Hounslow 29 16 19 0 19 
			 Islington 51 7 1 2 0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 28 3 0 2 18 
			 Kent 150 22 46 0 98 
			 Kingston-upon-Hull 58 10 5 0 11 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 14 4 6 0 17 
			 Kirklees 79 12 23 2 104 
			 Knowsley 42 14 11 0 25 
			 Lambeth 64 3 0 1 28 
			 Lancashire 127 30 22 17 44 
			 Leeds 117 35 2 4 104 
			 Leicester City 84 9 13 2 95 
			 Leicestershire 91 54 0 0 235 
			 Lewisham 59 5 6 0 41 
			 Lincolnshire 62 15 14 0 50 
			 Liverpool 127 9 32 1 21 
			 Luton 49 27 7 1 36 
		
	
	
		
			 Manchester 113 8 0 0 102 
			 Medway 27 16 0 0 28 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 23 2 0 0 21 
			 Merton 26 10 13 1 37 
			 Milton Keynes 32 16 3 0 24 
			 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 27 12 43 0 20 
			 Neath Port Talbot 33 2 4 2 48 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 80 12 17 0 43 
			 Newham 63 1 0 1 26 
			 Newport 36 6 8 0 27 
			 Norfolk 102 15 5 0 58 
			 North East Lincolnshire 36 2 0 0 0 
			 North Lincolnshire 24 7 0 2 0 
			 North Somerset 32 7 4 0 38 
			 North Tyneside 24 6 10 0 27 
			 North Yorkshire 73 41 12 0 80 
			 Northamptonshire 91 29 15 2 79 
			 Northumberland 59 17 2 1 54 
			 Nottingham 69 11 4 3 18 
			 Nottinghamshire 131 31 30 1 54 
			 Oldham 35 1 0 0 0 
			 Oxfordshire 78 30 26 1 48 
			 Pembrokeshire 19 7 3 0 34 
			 Peterborough 35 14 8 0 54 
			 Plymouth 55 4 0 0 73 
			 Powys 18 21 0 1 18 
			 Reading 21 6 0 1 32 
			 Redbridge 44 11 16 0 92 
			 Rhondda Cynon Taff 62 9 4 0 40 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 11 8 0 0 24 
			 Rochdale 59 7 14 0 21 
			 Rotherham 46 11 0 0 21 
			 Salford 52 4 0 0 49 
			 Sandwell 96 10 13 1 23 
			 Sefton 39 17 10 0 38 
			 Sheffield 120 26 18 3 127 
			 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 53 11 2 0 65 
			 Slough 29 1 2 0 0 
			 Solihull 29 6 1 1 25 
			 Somerset 37 26 4 0 125 
			 South Gloucestershire 22 0 4 0 43 
			 South Tees 76 9 9 0 22 
			 South Tyneside 35 5 17 0 44 
			 Southend-on-Sea 51 10 0 0 46 
			 Southwark 105 9 2 0 123 
			 St. Helens 42 8 23 0 21 
			 Staffordshire 100 32 0 1 63 
			 Stockport 42 9 24 0 13 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 31 7 9 0 29 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 68 14 5 0 121 
			 Suffolk 80 21 4 0 66 
			 Sunderland 80 11 76 1 32 
			 Surrey 70 22 47 12 71 
			 Sutton 21 10 2 0 34 
			 Swansea 57 15 3 13 31 
			 Swindon 24 12 0 1 68 
			 Tameside 30 11 7 2 30 
			 Thurrock 19 4 5 0 34 
			 Torbay 22 10 1 2 42 
			 Tower Hamlets and City of London 62 7 7 1 79 
			 Trafford 65 16 21 1 41 
			 Vale of Glamorgan 23 6 19 0 29 
			 Wakefield 55 10 0 0 52 
			 Walsall 50 4 12 0 28 
			 Waltham Forest 43 2 4 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Wandsworth 31 15 8 2 35 
			 Warwickshire 60 6 26 2 42 
			 Wessex 197 48 0 0 170 
			 West Berkshire 13 11 0 0 32 
			 West Sussex 62 26 31 1 100 
			 Westminster 27 6 0 0 0 
			 Wigan 61 14 12 0 0 
			 Wiltshire 41 22 4 2 112 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 9 4 0 0 35 
			 Wirral 64 4 15 0 57 
			 Wokingham 12 7 0 0 13 
			 Wolverhampton 61 8 3 0 10 
			 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 69 32 42 0 43 
			 Wrexham 27 2 3 1 39 
			 York 18 14 8 0 35 
			 Total 8,261 1,961 1,569 125 6,953 
			 Notes: 1. Figures provided are taken from YOT data submitted to the Youth Justice Board’s (YJB) Youth Justice Management Information System (YJMIS). 2. The data refers to staffing levels as at 30 June 2010. 3. These figures include part-time workers, sessional staff, trainees, and volunteers and are not measures of the full-time equivalent workforce. 4. There were 157 YOTs as at 30 June 2010. 5. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.